Scripture Synod to Highlight Eucharist

Bishops Release Guidelines

April 27, 2007
| 1890 hits

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 27, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The Synod of Bishops on the Word of God will be a continuation of the last episcopal assembly on the Eucharist.

Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, presented today the "lineamenta," or guidelines, for the synod to be held Oct. 5-26, 2008.

The document is entitled "The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church," and is divided into three chapters.

The introduction states that the synod is a continuation of the last synodal assembly, held in 2005 on the theme: "The Eucharist, Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church."

The "synod's underlying purpose and primary goal," the text reads, is to set forth "the intrinsic connection between the Eucharist and the Word of God."

Chapter 1 is entitled "Revelation, the Word of God and the Church," and considers such matters as the human need for revelation, the relationship between Tradition and Scripture, and the demanding task of interpreting the Word of God in the Church.

"The Word of God in the Life of the Church" is the title for the second chapter, which recalls how the Church was born and lives by the Word of God.

Mission

Chapter 3, entitled "The Word of God in the Mission of the Church," highlights how the Word of God must remain accessible to everyone at all times.

"Listening to the Word of God," the text reads, "must always take into consideration its ecumenical dimension." Moreover, Scripture is "a light for interreligious dialogue" with the Jewish people and with those of other faiths.

The "lineamenta" and the questionnaire will be reviewed by all the dioceses of the world, and the answers should be sent to the secretary-general of the synod before the end of November.

With the answers the "instrumentum laboris," or working document, will be written for the episcopal assembly.

Archbishop Eterovic said to the press that the 2008 synod, which comes more than 40 years after the Second Vatican Council dogmatic constitution "Dei Verbum," will seek to identify "within the universal Church, the positive results [the constitution] has brought to the people of God, especially as concerns biblical renewal in the fields of liturgy, theology and catechesis."

The archbishop added that "unresolved and problematic aspects persist, for example phenomena such as ignorance concerning the doctrine of the revelation and of the Word of God, as well as the significant detachment of many Christians from the Bible."

He said that the forthcoming synodal assembly "will have a prevalently pastoral goal."